Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 21, 2023 3:15:17 GMT 9
They were lucky – it turned out that the vein of ore the pair of birds had managed to find were pretty damn close to where they were already wandering. It took them off the path they’d been following, and Taylor was glad she’d asked them to search – there’s no way they would have stumbled upon it otherwise.
<So how do we get it out?> Came the Dratini’s next question.
Taylor hummed in consideration. “We’ll need someone strong to chip off sections,” she mused. There was one Pokemon in her box at the moment that clearly met that requirement. Releasing the Duraludon she’d recently caught and not yet had a chance to take to Ash. spawn reset
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 21, 2023 2:51:58 GMT 9
“Apparently the second is to forge some armour with it,” Taylor replied, rolling a shoulder in a shrug but taking care not to dislodge the living scarf there with the movement. “It’s all pretty vague as far as instructions go, but I figure it should be pretty self-explanatory once we get to that point.” Mushu hummed, perhaps in agreement.
Before they could continue the conversation, a shrill caw pierced the air, and the trainer’s gaze shot to the sky. Eyes settling on a pair of birds, she had to squint but recognised them as Flik and Archimedes after a moment. “Oh,” she breahed, adjusting her path to follow where they were leading. “It looks like they’ve found something.”
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 20, 2023 22:39:36 GMT 9
The Rufflet nodded, a determined expression settling across his features. <I will search,> he stated simply, lifting back into the air and first moving over towards Flik, hopefully to pass along the request. Two sets eyes were better than one; particularly when they had a bird’s-eye view of the area! It was a shame there were no helicopters or aeroplanes in UNOVR – as thematically out of place as they’d be, they’d make searches much easier!
<You said finding iron ore was the first step,> Mushu put in. <What is the second?> spawn reset
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 20, 2023 22:30:32 GMT 9
<What’s iron ore?> Mumble peeps, barely even letting her finish the sentence before chipping in. She cast a dry look in his direction, getting the feeling that this was going to become a theme, today.
“Iron is a metal, and iron ore is that metal before it’s processed,” She explained, patiently. “It looks like kind of reddish fleks in stone – sometimes there a lot of red, sometimes there’s just a little.” She wasn’t sure exactly how it appeared ingame, but hoped it would be fairly apparent. “The fact that the rocks around here are largely grey should help – the red will stand out against them.”
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 20, 2023 0:00:59 GMT 9
The decor made her grin as she stepped inside. The throaty, darkly ominous greeting only had her amusement growing. Well, if she’d ever not fit in anywhere, it was here.
“Hello,” she replied to the greeting, doing her best to bite back her amusement, but unfortunately mostly failing. She didn’t mean to come across as disrespectful, but the drama of this whole store and shopkeeper was just quite the sight! She loved it! “I do, yes.”
Stepping up to the counter and eyeing the… oh my god, literal coffins of Pokeballs, she let out an odd choking sound, desperately trying not to laugh. “Uh, I was hoping to offer this Basculin for a Mudbray.” She offered out the Pokeball in question hopefully.
Taylor trades Basculin for Mudbray
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Taylor
•
Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 22:38:21 GMT 9
<Why?> Archimedes asks, before either of the other two pokemon can answer. He settles on her shoulder, and Mushu grumbles quiet, shifting his tail so it doesn’t get trapped under one of the Rufflet’s talons.
“Well you bunch are just brimming with questions today, aren’t you?” The trainer teases. “I’ve seen a few players wearing armour and wielding weapons, and I’m curious about it.” She admits easily enough. “Apparently the first step requires obtaining iron ore." spawn reset
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 22:35:22 GMT 9
“Hm?” Taylor hums distractedly, running a gentle palm over Mumble’s head. She’s still a little out of sorts over that whole glitch thing. “Deja vu is like… a feeling that you’ve done something before. Like the situation has happened already. It’s disconcerting, but not a bad thing.” She didn’t want to freak him out. “I just got a really, really strong sense of it back there."
<Oh,> the Piplup replies simply. <Okay.>
She snorts, amused by the easy acceptance. “Anyway, I want to see if we can find some iron ore around here somewhere,” She changes the subject. “Think you can keep an eye out for some, for me?”
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 19:26:37 GMT 9
The battle was over, and Taylor chuckled at the stubborn dialogue the rival gave in response. A popup box appeared, presenting them each with the option to name him if they chose, but Taylor swiped hers away, ignoring him just as Verai was doing. Mumble toddled his way over, hugging her leg once he reached her. <That was fun!> He perked up at Kitten's insistent suggestion. <Yeah! Let's go again!> A few feet away, the unnamed rival looked slightly panicked.
“Good job, buddy,” the woman praised, running a gentle hand over the little penguin’s head and grinning at Kitten’s continued enthusiasm. “You both did so well! You make such a great team!” Laughter left her again as Kitten insisted they didn’t need to rest. “You can’t fight when you’re tired, hon. You’ve gotta be well rested to be as fierce as you can be!” The attempt at convincing probably wouldn’t work, but it was worth a try.
That said, she turned back to the trainer. “Of course!” She nodded. “Thank you for teaming up - I’d been meaning to get that tutorial done for a while!” Another nod. “Sweet. This game seems to be big on having us work together, so it’s good to know these two get on, huh?” She nodded down at Mumble and back up at Kitten. “Lemme just…” Trailing off, she pulled up her UI and sent over a friend request to the other trainer, a quiet ding sounding to let him know he had a message. “There we go! Gimme a shout if you need anything or want to work together again, yeah?”
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 18:20:10 GMT 9
Piplup (Mumble) Tank, Espeon (Dinah) Sweeper, Vulpix (Vixey) Support The little peeps of pain tugged at Taylor’s heart, and to say she felt bad would be a bit of an understatement. The cheeping reminded her of the baby birds in the dungeon she’d been involved in recently, and those were her babies for the duration of the event, so the association made her feel beyond cruel. Still, this was a battle. Gritting her teeth, she steeled her resolve and let things continue. She wouldn’t mind conceding if she was losing and it was necessary, but she couldn’t forfeit because she felt bad for doing damage to a cute opponent. That was just absurd.
Return blows rained down again, though this time the Meowth focused on healing the Torchic, so Mumble didn’t take a hit from him. Once again, he weathered the blows admirably, and again, Taylor’s brows rose as hit after hit shook the little penguin and he didn’t back down in tears. She’d honestly been expecting shock and upset from her starter, but it would seem his childish naivety did not extend to the battlefield.
Useful.
“Good job guys!” She called, before turning her attention to the Vulpix. “Think you could patch Mumble up a little more, Vix?” She asked.
<Of course,> The Vulpix practically purred, giving herself a shake before bouncing back up to the Piplup. Moving faster than the naked eye could track, she spun around the little water-type, eventually halting and giving a lick to his cheek. Mumble blushed from the very top of his head to the tips of his toes, and Vixey snickered, retreating to place herself behind him once again.
Taylor laughed too, shaking her head. That was not quite how she’d imagined Vixey healing the poor confused little penguin, but hey, if it worked, it worked! She watched now as the still-flushed Mumble braced himself, planting his feet and taking a big breath in. After a moment, He threw open his beak and blasted the poor opposing Torchic with a Hydro Pump.
Dinah had been darting forwards at the time to launch her own attacks on the Torchic, but with the torrent of water now obscuring Pheonix, she changed tactics. Throwing herself in the direction of the next closest opponent, she spun, kicking sand and dirt into the eyes of the Meowth in an attempt to temporarily blind them. That done, she spun again, throwing herself bodily against the support pokemon, determined to put a stop to their healing.
{Spoiler}{BREAKDOWN} PIPLUP (254/300) Active Damaged by Type:Null & Torchic for 63 HP Damaged by Charge Attack for 10 HP Healed by Vulpx for 74 HP
- Fight through the pain
- Use a move with over 100 base power
ESPEON (110/150) Active Damaged by Fast Attack for 20 HP
- combine two or more moves for additional effect
- Use a move with over 100 base power
VULPIX (110/150) Active Damaged by Heal for 20 HP
- Use a Pokemon with a Refresh bonus
- Use a priority move
Link to RollsTotal Damage: 80 to Torchic & 28 to Meowth Total Healing: 74 to Mumble
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Taylor
•
Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 17:36:27 GMT 9
Heal x2 - Vixey the Vulpix Quick Attack on Piplup Confuse Ray on Piplup Damage Taken: -20 HP (-10 per dice) PU1EtXpS2d12 + Rarity (10) + Pokemon Refresh (5) + Buff (20) TOTAL BONUSES x2
BUFF - Vixey gains a +10 Bonus to all rolls (caps at +20)
Charge Attack - Mumble the Piplup Hydro Pump (Water) on Torchic Damage Taken: -10 HP 1d50+30 + Rarity (10) + Supereffective (20)
Fast Attack x2 - Dinah the Espeon Sand Attack (Ground) on Meowth Double-Edge (Normal) on Meowth Damage Taken: -20 HP (-10 per dice) 2d20 + Rarity (10) TOTAL BONUSES x22d12·1d50+30·2d20
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Taylor
•
Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 17:13:08 GMT 9
Taylor wasn’t sure where exactly she’d expected to end up as part of this tower, but deep in the soggy roots of the tree wasn’t it. She was squinting, peering at one of the lime green worms, trying desperately to figure out what it was. There were loads of them. Were they Zygarde cells, perhaps…? Before she could draw any sort of conclusions, a Pidgeot appeared before her, whipping up a contained hurricane and buffeting her with it.
“Shit!” She cursed, frantically tapping to release Mumble. Perhaps not the best choice of Pokémon for this encounter, but it was muscle memory by now, to reach for him. Thankfully, once he appeared, Mumble seemed to know just what to do, leaping towards the Pidgeot in question and unleashing a Fury Attack.
NEXT PROMPT (#89): [Tower]5PKSZ0ZM1-50 1-50
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Taylor
•
Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 16:54:53 GMT 9
Mushu continued to watch her expectantly and Taylor blanched a little. She wasn’t quite sure how to explain it without the probably melodramatic threat of nudging the artificially intelligent creatures towards becoming self-aware. There were probably failsafes in place, right? “Uh…” She stalled, rolling a shrug, before settling on something that was at least close to the truth. “I got this weird, really strong sense of deja vu, I guess.” This seemed to satisfy the Dratini, as he nodded once before settling his head back down on her shoulder.
<What’s deja vu?> Mumble piped up in question. She’d released him shortly after the last fight, and he now toddled along by her side. spawn reset
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Taylor
•
Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 19, 2023 16:43:19 GMT 9
<You were acting strangely before the fight,> Mushu’s voice broke the silence as they walked, and Taylor glanced over at him in question. At her confused expression, he continued. <Before the Duraludon turned up - you seemed off. Was something wrong?>
Understanding dawned, and Taylor nodded. “Ohh, I remember now.” She’s clean forgotten about the whole, what with the dragon-type’s attack and the resulting chaos. “Nothing was wrong, exactly, but something weird happened.” She wasn’t sure if it was okay to speak to the Pokemon about glitches in the game. Were they aware of UNOVR being a VR game? Probably not - that seemed like it would just be asking for trouble.
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Taylor
•
Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 18, 2023 5:06:21 GMT 9
Trigger Warning: Discussions & themes of domestic abuse There wasn’t much that Taylor left the house for anymore. She left in the mornings for work Monday through Friday and came home again straight afterwards. She went shopping for groceries on Saturday mornings and… well, that was about it. It wasn’t that she couldn’t divert from this schedule, but it just… often wasn’t worth the risk. Arriving home at a different time than expected was a dangerous game to play. It invited questions. Questions always seemed to invite disbelief and accusations. And she’d found over the last few years of marriage that questions and accusations, regardless of what answers were offered, were often followed by violent outbursts.
So, she generally broke from her usual pattern only when she was fairly certain that the house would be empty by the time she got back. There was no guarantee of course – occasionally Lucas would tell her he’d be home late but would actually get back early, just to test if she’d really be home when she should or not. Everything felt like a balance of risk verses reward lately. Make this choice and it might provoke a violent reaction. Forgo that recreation or social obligation and it might make life a little easier. She never thought she’d be so easy to bring to heel. She barely recognised herself in the mirror anymore.
Bruises were easy enough to cover. She was a dab hand with concealer and foundation by now. The slightly dead look in her eyes was… less so.
Today, she broke routine.
Perhaps the recent time spent in VR and the social interaction it brought had emboldened her. Perhaps the fight last night had pushed her just that tiniest bit too far. Perhaps she just needed a breath of fresh air; the tiniest taste of freedom to keep hold of her sanity. Regardless, she strolled down the street now – she’d left the lab about twenty minutes prior and was wandering aimlessly, doing little more than soaking up the sun. The sky-blue blouse she wore was tucked into slim fitting black slacks, twin vertical rows of decorative, silver buttons running along either hipbone. Her face was tipped up towards the sky, soaking in the warm sun.
With a deep breath, she paused, returning her attention to the street, and glancing around. She should probably buy something while she was here. Pick up something, anything, that could serve as reason for the detour.
After a moment, her eyes landed on a flower shop. She blinked slowly, almost dully. Flowers were good. She liked flowers, right? She rather thought she did. So, with a breath that seemed like it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be resolute or resigned, she stepped towards the small store. Pushing open the door a little tentatively, she squinted, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the change in light.
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Taylor
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Lone Wolf
Mythstar
Posts: 491
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Taylor Finch
OOC Username: Lea
Arena Points: 72
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Post by Taylor on May 18, 2023 1:09:04 GMT 9
“Yep, all good!” Taylor laughed, hanging on for dear life as the beast bucked and roiled. “God, it’s like one of those bucking bronco bulls!” Goodness knows she wouldn’t be able to hang on to one of those in real life, so she took a moment to thank the devs for bestowing her avatar with more athletic ability than she really had.
She bonked the bastard on the head again before calling out another response. “Aye, should just need another couple of good hits!” Hopefully, because she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold on!
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